I hear that its best to arrive in the port city the day before embarking. What hotel do you recommend staying in? How about transportation to the boat? We would like to board early of course!
We are leaving tomorrow for Miami! Staying at the Best Western Plus Atlantic Beach. We stayed one other time and it isn’t anything spectacular but it’s right on the beach and serves it’s purpose 
. We just use Uber/Lyft to get to and from airport/hotel/port. You can book either the EB Hotel or Hyatt Centric Brickell through DCL and they have a shuttle you can pay for if staying at one of those hotels. I think the DCL shuttle has a set port time that is pretty early. We probably would have scheduled through DCL, except we wanted to be on the beach.
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Thanks for the feedback. What boarding time were you able to get? Have a great trip!!
We are boarding group 7! 11:30 a.m. arrival time. I think the important thing is to be on right at midnight EST on your check-in day to get an early port time. It can be frustratingly slow but we still managed to get a good time. You might already know all this but you will need photos of your passports AND headshot photos of everyone (different from your passport photos) to upload during check-in. We just took them the night before at home in front of a blank wall and they were accepted just fine. It can take a really long time for them to review/accept your check-in. We leave Sat. and they just got approved/accepted earlier this week. So don’t worry if you see it pending for a long time.
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Boarding group 7 is awesome! I will be ready with my photos for online check in!
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The Intercontinental is really nice. If you have a view of the Bay you can watch the ships come in early in the morning.https://www.icmiamihotel.com/ I know it can get a little pricey, but it’s a perfect location. There is also a Holiday Inn Port of Miami that a lot of people recommend. I’ve never personally stayed there, but the location is great! From both of these hotels, I would Uber/Lyft to the port. It’s about 5 minutes away and it’s very easy to get an Uber/Lyft in Miami. From both hotels you are within walking distance to Bayside Marketplace with lots of shops/restaurants. It’s pretty much for cruise passengers 
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I really enjoyed my stay at Intercontinental and will give it a thumbs up here as well. It was so cool to see the ships in the port, and the dining and shopping right nearby was great.
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I was so glad to see you review of it because it had been quite a few years since we had stayed there. Luckily now we can just drive to Miami
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